Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Case of mom killed 10 years ago gathers dust
A DECADE after their eight-month pregnant daughter, who was a mother of three, was brutally beaten to death, her family is pleading with police to assign a new team of detectives to the cold case.
Lezel Wagner, 33, was preparing to give birth to a girl in September 2012, but on August 30, however, her battered body was found dumped in a field near her home in Sherwood Park, Atlantis.
Activists are appealing to police to reinvestigate the case after no arrests or leads have been made.
Wagner’s girls are currently in the care of her parents, and are now aged 14, 16 and 23.
Wagner’s family have been left with more questions than answers.
Wagner’s distraught mother, Levonah Wagner told Weekend Argus police had not been in contact with the family since the murder after the detective relocated to Johannesburg.
“She was expecting a girl and she was very excited,” said Wagner.
“My daughter was not perfect, she used to walk around a lot and we think she was using tik at the time, but that did not give anyone a reason to kill her so brutally.
“She was a quiet child and respectful.”
Wagner recalls the day the investigation seemingly drew to a close.
“I remember walking to the detective’s office on that day and the door stood open.
“The office had been cleared and I was told that the detective had received a job in Johannesburg.
“I remember falling to my knees on the ground and I burst into tears. “It hurt me deep down.
“We still do not know why it happened and how. We are hoping to get answers because we want to know why this person did this and how it happened,” she said.
Former ward councillor, woman and child activist and founder of House of Healing shelter, Barbara Rass said she would be meeting with police to discuss the fact that Wagner’s case had become a cold case.
“It has been 10 years and there is nothing. The mother visited the police station regularly,” said Rass.
“We are calling on the police to relook into this case and assign a new detective to the case.
“Here was two lives taken, so its double murder and the killer is still among us, and that is very sad,” she said.
Police spokesperson, Sergeant Wesley Twigg said the case had no developments since Wagner’s murder.
“The circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation.
“The investigating officer pursued all available leads with no success.”
The South African Police Service are appealing to anyone with information that can assist with the investigation to please call Crime Stop on 08600 10111.